Innovation

Thanks to innovations, we are continuing to develop our business and strengthen our competitive edge. At Vetropack, innovation knows no limits: our activities range from boosting efficiency in our production processes and developing sustainable products to making our operating processes easier with the help of digital tools. When assessing the relevant factors for innovation projects, we not only consider the economic benefits (such as strengthening our market position or developing new business fields) but also improvements to ecological sustainability.

Technology and Production: responsible for innovations

Our CEO supports the innovation strategy as an integral element of Vetropack's overall strategy. He is assisted by the CTO. The Innovation Steering Committee leads and oversees the concept development and the implementation phases for innovations. We are also planning to create a position for an Innovation Analyst. The Technology and Production division is responsible for practical steps to foster innovations. This division has responsibility for production in our plants, and for developing processes and technologies. Our responsibilities in Technology and Production are as follows:

• The Technology and Projects unit focuses on technological developments both within and outside the Group. The applied technologies are used to implement production processes within the Vetropack Group, with the focus on three key issues: digitalisation, innovation, and sustainability. We examine known and proven technologies in these fields to assess their suitability for Vetropack – and where appropriate, we introduce them into our company.
• The Performance unit is responsible for our production processes. Attention here is focused on analysing, standardising and consistently optimising the process landscape, and on benchmarking both within and outside the Group so as to improve operative performance. We make use of continuous improvement (CIP) tools such as Lean and Six Sigma.
• The Innovation unit develops the processes and products of the future. The Innovation Centre inaugurated at our site in Pöchlarn (Austria) in 2020 was integrated into the organisation of the Technology and Production division as from January 2022, followed by further development in 2023. Research at the Innovation Centre focuses on process and product development as well as digitalisation. Moreover, the Innovation unit was expanded in 2023 by new appointments to the positions of Innovation Manager Process and Innovation Manager Digital Factory.

Steering Committee assesses risks

Innovations entail financial risks – because not all innovation projects ultimately lead to success. A Steering Committee is in place where the success of innovation projects is reviewed regularly with internal stakeholders, so such projects can be aligned and coordinated with Vetropack’s innovation strategy.

Partnerships make innovations possible

We collaborate closely with external partners in order to implement our innovation strategy. We require our suppliers to be ready and willing to innovate – and in return, we offer a platform for the industrialisation of new products. We work together with our customers to develop innovations that allow them to operate successfully on the market. In various associations, and through direct contact with universities, colleges and research institutions, we monitor current trends in science and technology, and we take part in strategic projects.

Saving CO₂ thanks to innovations

Vetropack is working on the ‘Furnace for the Future’ to reduce the energy consumed in producing glass. Going forward, the goals are to boost the energy efficiency of furnaces and replace natural gas with electrical energy. Innovative technologies should be leveraged to cut energy consumption and thus reduce the carbon footprint of the melting processes. Vetropack participates in projects such as Furnaces for the Future launched by FEVE (the European Container Glass Federation) and Zero CO₂, and we also collaborate with the IPGR (International Partners in Glass Research) network and RWTH Aachen University (Germany). In addition, work is under way on digitalisation of the entire value stream in the context of a Smart Factory approach.

Another possible way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in glass production is to use the highest possible share of cullet (see the sections on Resources and Climate protection for more information). We are making targeted investments to improve internal cullet processing at various sites, and we plan to develop innovative state-of-the-art plant technology.

One current focus of our work to develop innovation concepts is on storage or use of CO₂ emissions generated during the glass manufacturing process, in connection with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) or Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) technologies. We are collaborating with an external partner to investigate the possibility of mineralisation of the CO₂ from the process gas. The minerals produced in this way can be used as raw materials for manufacturing glass, and also in a variety of industrial processes. These mineral raw materials would thus be carbon-neutral.

Innovative camera technology

In another collaboration project with an external partner, high-speed camera technology is being used to monitor the glass forming process in real time on a glass forming machine at our Pöchlarn plant. Especially for fast-running machines, the generated images allow precise detection of malfunctions and process anomalies for the purpose of preventive maintenance. A specially developed evaluation algorithm is used to classify the information about malfunctions and anomalies, which it is then made immediately available to the operator. This reduces periods of disruption and enables us to define preventive measures more accurately.

Digitalisation and automation

Ongoing development of information technology and digitalisation of our business processes are elements of our Strategy 2030. Responsibility for driving digitalisation and automation projects ahead is assigned to the Heads of Finance, Controlling, Procurement and Sales, together with the Head of Technology and Production in collaboration with IT. However, IT and digitalisation are not ‘worlds unto themselves’ at Vetropack. On the contrary: they provide the basis for efficient collaboration within the Group and with our customers, suppliers and other business partners.

We are digitalising processes throughout our entire value chain – because digital solutions help us to make our internal operating processes more efficient, meet customers’ needs and thus strengthen our competitive edge. The digitalisation of business processes opens up possibilities for rapid and transparent data processing. Automation concepts allow us to generate and evaluate data from the production processes in real time.

We need the right technical conditions to be met for efficient, user-friendly digitalisation processes, and we deploy suitable tools to achieve this. We use SAP as our Group-wide ERP solution. This provides coverage (for example) for the processes from the product order through to payment for it. In the future, we will deploy a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for the upstream step from the needs analysis through to the purchase order. You can read more about this in the Customer satisfaction section.

Information security

Digitalisation also gives rise to risks and hazards such as cyber attacks, breaches of data privacy or loss of human know-how at the operational level. The Director Information Security and the Information Security Board are responsible for preventing cyber attacks and ensuring data privacy and protection.

To ensure protection for our employees’ and business partners’ data, we follow a Group-wide Security Guideline. Our information security processes are based on the ISO 27001 standard. More information on data protection can be found in the Compliance section.

Guidelines, policies, supervisory and control instruments

• Innovation Steering Committee
• Security Guideline
• Information security processes based on the ISO 27001 standard
• Information Security Board

Progress and events in the reporting year

Contribution to achieving the SDGs

Vetropack’s strategic orientation focuses on creating a resilient infrastructure and developing sustainable industrialisation. Processes, plant and technologies are upgraded to the current state of the art. With Drive innovation as our strategic thrust, the development of our products and processes is focused on implementing innovations.